Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Feb 11: It has been a dream-come-true for these two aspiring young fast bowlers from Bangalore, thanks to the “Gatorade Pacers 2009” talent hunt programme.

For 20-year-old Manish Kumar, the opportunity to perform and be selected at the talent hunt programme for the budding pace bowlers launched by Gatorade, the world’s leading sports drink brand from the PepsiCo portfolio, could not have come at a more opportune time. The son of a Reliance Communications employee in the city, Manish’s only dreams in life is to play for India at the international-level, and he considers his selection at the “Gatorade Pacers 2009” for the national trials as a God-sent opportunity.

It has also been a dream run for 20-year-old Chethan V, an automobile engineering student at the government polytechnic, Bagepalli. The son of a labourer in a welding workshop, Chethan is a deprived person since his childhood. However, his coach has been his inspiration and is instrumental in making him a fast bowler. His coach Jai Prakash, who identified him playing with a tennis ball and asked him to join his own private Cricket Club, thinks him to be a future fast bowler material. He started bowling at the age of eight, and has played in state-level selections also.

Like Chethan, Manish has now got a golden opportunity to participate in the national trials to be held in Delhi later this month.

Both Chethan and Manish are already budding cricketers. A resident of Vidyaranyapura post, Bangalore, Manish is born and brought up in Kolkata. Unlike Chetan, he is a bit lucky, as far as the financial status of parents is concerned. He started playing cricket nearly three years ago at Bangalore Cricket Academy.

 “I am just hoping to put my best performance at the Delhi trials. Selection at the national trials would certainly give a boost to my career at this stage. Gatorade Pacers is a wonderful platform for aspiring cricketers like me,” says Manish. Chethan is equally appreciative of the opportunity he has got. “If it was not for Gatorade Pacers, I would have still been playing at the local-level. Selection at the zonal finals has now made me confident of my bowling abilities,” he says.

“Gatorade is the most popular sports drink amongst cricketers and sportspersons worldwide, so it is only appropriate that the brand plays a catalyst in identifying the next fast bowling sensation in our country. The sweating and the need for recovery is very significant in fast bowlers. There are three major aspects in this which are skill, fitness and body preparedness. The sweat formed in each player’s body, composition of sweat and other parameters get measured. Based on this, a personal hydration strategy is chalked out for every player. Optimal Hydration is a strong performance differentiator once you have similar skill and fitness levels,” Sandeep Walunj, vice president, Innovation, PepsiCo India, said.

 T  Sekar, India’s fast bowling legend, who has been associated with the “Gatorade Pacers 2009,” said “this initiative is special to me since, apart form presenting a great opportunity to deserving bowlers, it also inculcates the culture of sports science in the players at the young age; which I believe is critical if we are to make the progress from a good cricketing nation to a great cricketing nation. I agree with Sandeep as far as benefits of Optimal Hydration are concerned. We learnt this the hard way, I am happy initiatives like this are exposing young students, coaches and administrators to the importance of optimal hydration.”

Gatorade Pacers 2009 was launched in New Delhi on December 1 in the presence of Srinath who has been associated with the initiative since its inception in 2007. After month-long registrations across India for this nationwide talent hunt competition for pace bowlers, the zonal round received a huge response attracting as many as 1,310 participants in Bangalore. Selection process involved measuring bowling speed with a speed gun coupled with expert’s assessment of action, fitness, accuracy and potential of the bowler.

The hunt returns to Delhi later this month, having conducted similar zonal rounds at Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The national winners of the hunt will receive once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be groomed by India’s leading fast bowling Coach T A Sekar through structured training programmes and regular monitoring of progress for a period of three years.